Irrigation mats are known and an example of these is described in PCT application WO2004/056172 filed on Dec. 23, 2002 and relating to an irrigation mat for the irrigation of potted plants. This mat was designed primarily to absorb and retain water which is sprinkled over the mat by overhead sprinklers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,659 discloses a capillary root zone irrigation system utilizing an irrigation mat wherein water is supplied into the mat by rigid polyethylene pipes which are perforated. These types of mats are cumbersome and need to be assembled on site and are very expensive.
In our pending application Ser. No. 2,498,077 there is described an irrigation mat which includes drip tapes incorporated therein and wherein the mat and the drip tapes can be rolled into a bundle for shipping and storage.
In order to save energy in heating plants in greenhouses there is on the market a floor mesh in which tubes are connected thereto and which are then connected to a hot water supply whereby hot water is directed in these tubes. The tubes are disposed on a support table onto which are placed potted plants whereby to heat the plants directly. Accordingly it is not necessary to heat the entire greenhouse to provide heat to the plants and this translates into energy savings. This system is known as a root zone heating system. However, when heating potted plants the heat normally dries up the plants particularly in small cells for growing propagation plugs and accordingly it is necessary to periodically water the plants. Also, the heat is not evenly distributed on the contact surface of the pot. Also, these tubes being exposed directly onto a support table or on potted plants are subject to puncture and therefore malfunction. If one of the tubes in the assembly becomes punctured then the entire assembly is rendered inoperative and this requires for an entire arrangement of plants to be removed from the table to remove the heating tubes and then to position new tubes and reposition the plants on the table. This is time consuming and expensive. Because the tubes are exposed to ambient air, a lot of the heat is lost into the space. This system is not totally efficient.